After two failures in the first three races of the season, Max Verstappen and his Red Bull Racing team were “really angry”, as the Dutchman admits after winning his second world title.
The first three Grands Prix 2022 were over, Bahrain, in Saudi Arabia and Australia, with two failures of world champion Max Verstappen, behind world championship leader Charles Leclerc 46 points. There was thick air at RBR, as Max Verstappen now admits.
“We were really angry,” says the 32-time GP winner. “And we knew that we had to get the stability problems under control quickly. But at the same time we kept calm. At no point were we down. There was more of a mood like, ‘The season is so long, a lot can still happen.’»
“I think we responded well to these setbacks. We are ambitious enough that of course we were angry, but we were also solution-oriented and fiercely determined to put the difficulties behind us. That’s an attitude that I also notice in myself: Of course I get annoyed about certain situations, but then I go into solution mode with my team. What can we do? How can we fix this? How can we move forward?”
“I think that’s a good attitude, because that way you don’t get demotivated, you stay focused. And when it comes to success, people tick in a very similar way. Of course it’s fabulous to win all those races, but the professionals wake up the next morning and think, ‘Well, now let’s think about how we could win the next Grand Prix.’
Fernando Alonso once said he wanted to win three Formula 1 world titles, like his idol Ayrton Senna. How does Max Verstappen think about such connections? Does he have a specific goal in terms of titles?
Max says: “It depends on how the coming years go. We have a fabulous team and we work well together. Now it will be about keeping this team together. And if we can do that, we can still achieve a great deal together. Of course, further success also depends on the competitiveness of our opponents. But I firmly believe in more victories and more titles.”
Japan-GP, Suzuka
01. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 3:01:44,004 h
02. Sergio Perez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, +27.066sec
03. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, +31,763
04. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, +39,685
05. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, +40,326
06. Sebastian Vettel (D), Aston Martin, +46,358
07. Fernando Alonso (L), Alpine, +46,369
08. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, +47,661
09. Nicholas Latifi (CDN), Williams, +70,143
10. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, +70.782
11. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), McLaren, +72,877
12. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, +73,904
13. Yuki Tsunoda (J), AlphaTauri, +75,599
14. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, +86.016
15. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Alfa Romeo, +86,496
16. Guanyu Zhou (RC), Alfa Romeo, +87,043
17. Mick Schumacher (D), Haas, +92,523
18. Pierre Gasly (F), AlphaTauri, +108,091
Out
Alex Albon (T), Williams, Hydraulikdefekt
Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, accident
Championship status (after 18 of 22 races)
driver
01. Verstappen 366 points
02. Pérez 253
03. Leclerc 252
04. Russell 207
05. Sainz 202
06. Hamilton 180
07. Norris 101
08. Ocon 78
09. Alonso 65
10. Bottas 46
11. Vettel 32
12. Ricciardo 29
13. Gasly 23
14. Magnussen 22
15. Stroll 13
16. Schumacher 12
17. Tsunoda 11
18. Zhou 6
19. Albon 4
20. Latif 2
21. DeVries 2
22. Nico Hülkenberg (D) 0
Constructors’ Cup
01. Red Bull Racing 619 Punkte
02. Ferrari 454
03. Mercedes 387
04. Alpine 143
05. McLaren 130
06. Alfa Romeo 52
07. Aston Martin 45
08. Haas 34
09. AlphaTauri 34
10. Williams 8